


The Listener

by GalaxyMuse



Series: Gold Saints Anthology [3]
Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Personal Growth, Spiritual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 16:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4753394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyMuse/pseuds/GalaxyMuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twelve men donning golden armor guard the Sanctuary of Athena in Greece, the Goddess of Wisdom and War. The strongest of all her soldiers, these golden saints guard each house of the Zodiac. While they all serve the efforts of good, the paths that led them to Greece are as diverse as the corners of the Earth they were from. Some earned their cloths with joy, others in the wake of sadness, while others yet through ambition. How they became the saints they were was once shrouded in mystery until now.</p><p>These are the stories of how the twelve gold saints of the Sanctuary Arc earned their cloths.<br/>(Sanctuary arc of Anime/Manga)<br/>A VERY special thanks to my friends at Overactive Imagination who helped me edit/bounce ideas around for this anthology! (And to KnightlyWordSmith for helping as well!)<br/>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>A little blond boy<br/>Was born far away<br/>A holy god told him<br/>"You'll journey one day."</p><p>Come read this tale<br/>And soon you'll know<br/>How a boy named Shaka<br/>Became Gold Saint Virgo</p><p>An epic poem</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that these stories would probably be considered AU, as I am tinkering a little bit with ages and canon timeline. I am also taking liberties with personalities, and of course I'm obviously talking about backstory, so this is really where I'm taking artistic license.
> 
> Please note that the stories are independent of each other; so if you would like to just jump to your fave gold saint in my series, please feel free to do so! My goal is that you should really only need to know about the main plot of the Sanctuary arc to read each story (what's a Pope, what happened with Saga and Aiolos, etc.).
> 
> I attempted to implement more of the culture of each saint's original countries, so I have added some footnotes for context for those that are unfamiliar with words, customs or history. You can click the numbers that appear next to the words, and AO3 will conveniently jump you to the bottom of the text, where you can see the footnote. You can then click the number again by the footnote to go back to where you were in the story.
> 
> If you don't like this and have a recommendation for a better way of leaving these notes and/or if you do/don't find them helpful, please let me know!
> 
> Feedback is always welcome!

Down the long river

A child is born

His mother from the native land

His father from a distant shore

 

So happy mother and father were,

They gave their babe the name:

"Shaka, like the sacred one[1],

Come greet the world today."

 

They weep and hold their precious gift

They smiled down at their pride and joy

Yet how the two were unaware

Of someone speaking to their boy

 

"Close your eyes," said the God, "For you're young, for you're new

"You won't be like many, no, you will be like the few

"I have chosen, you, child, for a journey one day

“But for now little one,

“Close your eyes,

“Rest away."

-

So Shaka was raised

In a home filled with love

Watching,

Hearing and listening

The child curiously thinking,

“Why cherish me so?”

 

To the river he'd go

With his mother to bathe

Or to wash their clothes

How he reveled those days!

 

For the river called to him,

And within it he saw

Water changing, unchanging

The holy, the tainted[2]

 

"The river tells you many things," the God would often say

The voice Shaka heard,

Since his first waking day

"I love the river so," said he, "it seems you feel the same."

 

One noon by the river,

There came a group of men

Robed in orange and red

To the people they called,

"Bring your children to us. We search for a listener."

 

Heeding their call,

Shaka so came,

His parents awaiting

What the wise men would say

 

One by one down the line,

The men spoke to the children

Asking them questions, giving them choices,

 

To no avail could they find what they sought

But the men were patient, as they were so taught

 

“Little boy,” they said to him

 

“Shaka is my name.”

 

“Shaka then,” they continued,

“ We were never told

“Of a boy near Ganga [3]

 “With eyes of sky and hair of gold.”

 

“What of it?” asked the boy, “If you must know how,

“My father’s from another land, but he lives here now

“So he is no different from my mother or you-

“Aren't we all the same as red

“Beneath what our sight allows us to view?”

 

“This is true,” said the men,

Impressed with the boy

“Shaka,” they said, “come choose a toy.”

 

The men showed the boy

A set of three relics to choose

Their origins a mystery

 

The child was drawn to one,

An ancient rosary

 

So Shaka made his choice:

The string of dark beads

 

The men conversed

As the choice made them sure

That they were close

To finding their answer

 

“Shaka,” they said, “for you we have one more test”

“Look to the river,

“And tell us what you see.”

 

Shaka moved his eyes to Ganga

He told them what he saw

Near every day without doubt:

 

“I see motion, I see stillness,

“I see purity and sin,

“I see laughter, I see sadness

“All contained within.

“The river takes as it gives

“This I see by its shore

“Though I'm five, so this I know-

“It has yet to show me more.”

 

“Is it often, little Shaka,” the men asked

“That you hear a voice?”

 

The boy replied, “By the river, I hear him.”

 

“Does he have a name?” they asked

 

“Yes, you know it well.”

 

With that the men had found what they sought,

And in a fortnight,

His mother and father, with teary eyes

Sent Shaka away,

Mourning, watching

Till he was out of sight.

 

“Are you taking me,” Shaka asked, “Because I can hear a voice?”

 

 “Yes, little one, to move up the river

“To train there, with others.

“Once you are ready,

“You’ll be granted a choice.”

 

The temple was silent

Filled with meditation

Of monks young and old

 

Incense fills the air

Footsteps here and there

These things Shaka came to know

As commonplace in his new home

 

To him a gift was given

By the men, sage and wise

To him they said "Shaka,

"Come with us," they advised

 

They took the young boy

To a ruined temple,

Away from the rest

Where within sat an image

Of their idol in earthly form

 

A statue of Buddha awaited the child

Standing, eyes closed, how gently it smiled!

 

"Shaka," they said, "Since you hear his advice,

"You may come to this temple to make yourself wise."

 

"Why is it me?" he'd ask the great god

"Of all of the women and men

"On this Earth, in this time, in this place,

“Why choose a child of the lowliest rank?"

 

"A child," said the Buddha,

"Is young and bold

"He can see, he can learn,

"What you can't when you're old."

 

"What must I learn?" asked Shaka one day

As he sat at the statue's feet  


"There is no way to say

"What you must learn,

“What knowledge you need

"You must find it yourself

"It is you who must plant the seed

"Of experience, wisdom,

"Things that come with time

"But I trust that you'll find it 

"For your insight is also mine."

 

[1]     In Japanese, the name of the traditional Buddha is Shaka Nyorai – <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyorai>  
According to Kurumada, the creator of Saint Seiya, Shaka's name comes from the realm of Shakyamuni, whose most famous inhabitant is Buddha - <http://saintseiya.wikia.com/wiki/Virgo_Shaka>

[2]    The Ganges river in India is considered the most sacred river in Hinduism. It is also the fifth most polluted river in the world, as the people living near and around it use it to bathe and be rid of their dead - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges>

[3]    Ganga – The Hindu goddess associated with the Ganges river - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges_in_Hinduism>


	2. Part 2

To the river he’d go

Day in and day out

After his training

To wander about

 

Then return to the temple,

To the giant Buddha’s base

Each time he did,

Recounting what he faced

 

“This day,” he began,

“I think I saw joy

“As I sat by the river,

“I saw a young girl”

 

“Smiling and laughing,

“She played with a friend.

“And this she continued

“To do till day's end.”

 

“And what do you think of this joy, young child?”

 

The little boy sat, pondering a while

 

“If this bond makes people happy, so be it

“Though I don’t think I understand or see it,

“Why does the girl smile? Because the others smile back?

“Is this bond with people something I lack?”

 

“You will understand young Shaka,

“Though now you don't see,

“There is no 'you, her or I'

“But a grand 'We'

 

“Are all connected in Samsara.[1]

“One brief way of breaking free

“Is to reach out with the heart-

“A smile is the key.”

 

The gifted boy paused, he looked to the sky

He sat and turned on the words he was told

The enlightened one saw the boy’s state

And ended with this

 

“Close your eyes,” Said the god, “For you learned something new”

“You must now take it in; it must be a part of you.”

“Happiness, laughter, friendship and love”

“They are beautiful things, regarded high above.”

“Some day you will know,

“Of these bonds people keep,

“Until then,” he did end,

“Close your eyes,”

“Go to sleep.”

-

On another morn, to the river he went

And after taking in what he had seen

Went back to the Buddha, to ask what was meant

By the things the saw, of what he could glean

 

“This time,” he began,

“I believe I saw sorrow.”

 

“Alone by the river,

“I saw a man cry

“He mourned of misfortune

“His money had run dry

“He came to the river,

“Wondering with tears,

“How he would feed his family

“And his wife of long years.”

 

“Suffering is normal,

“It’s a part of life too,

“As you turn in the cycle

“It will happen to you.”

 

The Buddha then added-

“Remember this, child

“Pain, like joy,

“Only lasts a while.”

 

Little Shaka’s heart sank

At the troubling words

To the sky he looked up

Once again, unsure

 

“Close your eyes,” said the god “It is painful, I know,

“For the things that you see

“When to the river you go,

“Will be many, will be moving,

“But they will make you wise.

“So for now, young one,

“Take it in,

“Close your eyes”

-

The next evening

The boy had come in tears

The Buddha did wonder

The source of his fears

 

“Little one,” he asked, ”why do you weep?

“You are only six, these tears you should not keep.

“Tell me young Shaka, what troubles your soul,

“And I will say what I can to help you feel whole.”

 

The prodigy sobbed,

And his eyes remained closed

He looked not at the statue,

As to stay composed.

 

“Today by the river,

“I saw bodies and ash

“Floating through the water

“Through the waves they did crash.[2]

“The stench of the death

“I could hardly take in

“But what made me lose breath,

“Was what people did therein."

 

“They bathed and they washed

“Their clothes in the waters

“All the women and men,

“Their sons and their daughters

“They went about their lives

“As if nothing was wrong

“But I could hear the spirits

“Of the dead sing their song.”

 

“Great Buddha, I know

“I am your chosen one

“And I know that even now

“My training's not done.

“But right now I cry

“As I must know more:

“Why be born just to die?

“And why in a place so poor?”

 

The little boy wept

And fell to the ground

For the people that died

And those alive all around

 

The Buddha did see

The boy’s weeping and sorrow,

And wise as he was,

He knew what to say

 

“Shaka, I know,” the Buddha began

“That you've seen many things

“By the river. The pains of Samsara

“Are some of the hardships it brings.

“But it’s best for you to understand

“That the people don’t mourn their family and friends

“For they know,

“As I know you will some day,

“That death is not truly how the life of one ends.”

 

“If you can see this child, though now it seems flawed,

“You will surely be a man that is closest to God.”

 

Little Shaka understood

But could not comprehend

Only after years passed

Would he grasp what was meant.

 

“Close your eyes,” said the god, “Once again you have learned,

“Keep this memory close, though your soul may have burned

“This illusion of death, and the pains of strife,

“Close your eyes, little child, it’s the beauty of life.”

-

In the night of the winter

All was calm and still

Little Shaka was resting

Asleep until

 

The voice from the god

That he spoke to each day

Reached into the dark of his mind

"Come away"

 

“I am taking you now

Into realms that few know

For it's time that you learn

Of the worlds that I'll show.”

 

“In one hand Prithvi[3]

In the other Gyan[4]

Your mind and your body

Are going to the beyond

Now Abhaya and Varada[5]

The last steps to break free

Down, down we now go

The six realms you will see.”

 

“Our venture begins in the fires of hell

“Where men who have sinned in life suffer and pay,[6]

“We next travel to where man's hunger won't quell

“And bodies lie rotten to eat or decay,[7]

“The world of the beasts will be what's next in store

“Where creatures most feral will swallow you whole,[8]

“We then journey down to the unyielding war

“In this realm you battle forever, no goal,[9]

“The realm of the humans, all emotions bare

“You live in this realm now, with burdens so great,[10]

“But none of these worlds in their horror compare

“To the doom that awaits you at heaven's wide gate.[11]”

 

“Seeing what you've seen, knowing what you know

“You now can guide others, tell them where they'll go”

 

The youth was aghast

At what he had seen

Not sure how to take in

All the places he’d been

 

Distraught and upset

Wishing he didn’t know

He wept on the ground

He feared what was shown

 

“Why show me these horrors? Why give me this power?

“When I am so young, a barely budding flower?

“I’m frightened, I’m scared, I want to go home!

“Back to the river where with mother I roamed!”

 

The Buddha saw the boy’s tears, but being so wise,

He told the young child, once again “Close your eyes.

“With time, youthful one, with time you will see

“Why I chose you, Shaka, to listen to me.

“You are strong as any man, but strength must be earned

“You will grow powerful with the more you have learned.

“All creatures great and small will encounter frights

“That keep them in tumult for days and for nights.

“Even if you can’t see it, do take my advice,

“You’re a brave soul, Shaka.

“Take it in,

“Close your eyes.”

-

Another day by the river he went

A much longer time than normal he spent

The Buddha wondered what made him wile

Until Shaka returned at sundown with a smile

 

“Great Buddha,” he started, “Today I feel good.”

“I saw a miracle as I went on my way,

“A woman in her home, belly swollen so wide

“After hours of pain, gave a small being life.”

 

“Now Buddha, I’ve learned in my time with you

“Of death and of suffering in this world and others

“Yet I believe that what overpowers their dread

“Is the bond that is held between children and mothers.”

 

“Shaka, my listener, at the young age of seven,

“You’re learning what we find most valued in heaven.

“Though to be enlightened even love you’ll let go,

“It’s priceless to see what today you now know.”

 

Shaka beamed realizing he had pleased the god

“Shall we begin then?” he asked

 

“Close your eyes,” said Buddha, “For the wisdom you gained,”

“Must be stored away, so when needed can be claimed.

 “Life is precious and valued, these are truths and not lies,

“So let your heart smile,

“Take it in,

“Close your eyes.”

-

In a night of the spring, young Shaka was awake

He looked up to the stars, a sight to behold

And from deep within him he felt he was one

With the distant lights deep within the black

 

“Great Buddha, why do I feel this way?

“Like the energy of the stars is within me too?”

 

“It's simple,” the Buddha said, “That is because

“From there you have come and to there you’ll go back.”

 

“But how is that possible, when I have seen

“The various hells we may go to when dead?”

 

“Young Shaka, you will someday realize

“That both paths are true, there’s no right or wrong.”

 

“Not only that,” the god said, “But you have a talent,

“For as you have noted, you can feel the strength

“Of the stars deep within you, for you can detect

“What’s known as your cosmos, and use it at length.”

 

“This is one reason you were taken away

“From your mother and father on that fateful day

“You have a gift, Shaka, and this is why

“I’m teaching you lessons as the days go by.”  
   

The boy wondered how or why he would use

A power that others could easily abuse

“I know you will use it only in need,”

Said Buddha, “You're not one to give in to greed.”

 

“Close your eyes,” said the god, “More wisdom you have gained,

“As the stars shine down and the moon has just waned.

“Take in this new power and feel one with all things

“Come Shaka, close your eyes

 “Sense the unity it brings.”

 

[1]     The repeating cycle of life, death, rebirth and suffering in Buddhism - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra>

[2]    People often send their dead as whole corpses, partial corpses or ashes into the Ganges River - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges>

[3]    Mudras are positions one places their hands in for meditation. The Prithvi mudra is made by touching the thumb and ring finger together at the tips. It's meant to strengthen you physically and/or help fight fatigue - <http://mudraguide.com/index.php/mudras/basic-mudras/29-prithvi-vardhak-prithvi-mudra>

 

[4]    Perhaps the most common mudra people see when they think of meditation, the Gyan mudra is performed by touching the thumb and index fingers together at the tips. It is meant to strengthen you mentally -  <http://mudraguide.com/index.php/mudras/basic-mudras/21-gyan-mudra-vaayu-vardhak-mudra>

[5]    Abhaya and Varada Mudra: The Abhaya mudra is made by holding the right hand up and flat-palmed close to the chest and shoulder level. It represents fearlessness. The Varada mudra is made by holing the left palm flat downwards by your waist. This is meant at a boon-giving gesture. Many images of Hindu deities have their hands in these positions, which can be interpreted to represent liberation from material things as more significant than material wealth -  <https://rudrakshayoga.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/the-secret-of-abhayadont-fear-and-varadaboon-giving-gestures-of-shridevi/>

[6]    The six realms of Samsara, starting with Jigokukai – the typical interpretation of a fiery hell - <http://www.twilightvisions.com/KotZ/Virgo.html> the following footnotes will describe the other realms as referred to in the series.

[7]    Gakikai – The realm of ghouls whom are thin with swelling stomachs. They devour the flesh of their other sufferers. Those who have been greedy in life come here.

 

[8]    Chikushoukai – the realm of beasts, where those who are animalistic go.

[9]    Shurakai – A realm of an unending war, with no rest.

[10]   Jinkai – The realm of humans. Having to deal with all emotions, those who dwell there are burdened with feeling all of them.

[11]    Tenkai – The realm of heaven. At any time, you can fall back into the other worlds.


	3. Part 3

Two years had now passed

Since Shaka left his home

In the heat of a morn,

The god to him called

 

"It is time.

"It is time."

 

The priests took the boy,

Who now sensed when they came.

They repeated the call

 

"It is time.

"It is time."

 

They took the boy to a room,

With other children he was placed

In unison the priests called

 

"It is time.

"It is time."

 

Darkness filled the room

As the special ones were told

Of the Deities' Trial

They were about to partake

 

"All you children have heard voices

"Since your first gasp of life.

"Your gods have chosen to speak to you

"And now we test if you understand."

 

"The greatest of all rewards awaits you

"If you choose correctly here.

"Go now, dear youths, go now into darkness

"And find the brightest light."

 

The heavy doors were closed

As the children awaited their fate

 

Some cried and some shouted

But their pleas were met with quiet

 

Young Shaka feared too

What awaited him in this room

 

"What must I do?" he asked his god

But stillness replied back

 

"I am alone.

"I am alone."

 

In darkness unyielding

With incense in the air

The boy made his choice

Not to weep nor to fear

 

 

"I'll close my eyes,

"For open, I gain nothing new.”

 

"I must think on what I've learned

"For it may guide me through."

 

And so the boy did.

Closing his eyes,

He met darkness with darkness

 

The cries were soon muted as the boy focused

 

Darkness

 

Darkness.

 

Unknown

 

Unknown.

 

The boy had no fear in the face of the stillness

 

Voices soon came to him

 

"A gifted child you are," they said,

"We gods regard this highly!"

 

"I shall grant you many things, child,

“For your devotion to us."

 

"Unyielding wealth, perhaps,

“So that you may want no more?”

 

"Or a titan's strength

“So that none may bring you harm?”

 

"Or wipe away the threat of death itself,

“Which I can see you so despair?"

 

"Come child, choose your gift.”

"One that any mortal would yearn for! “

 

"Come child, choose your gift.”

"We will fade soon enough!"

 

Shaka did hear the offers, and for each had a reply,

 

"Wealth brings poverty of the soul.

"Brute strength brings frailty to the mind.

"Unyielding life brings death to experience.”

 

"Your gifts mean nothing to me, for I can see their hidden price.

"They're nothing to me, so be gone, I want none of what you offer."

 

"YOU'RE A FOOL, YOU'RE A FOOL!" the voices cry and wail,

"Many other children have chosen, they will live happy lives!

"Do you wish to starve? Do you wish to die?"

 

"I do wish for food, I do wish for life,

"But these things are earned, not thrown at one's feet.”

 

"This I have learned. The river taught me!"

 

The voices hissed and left the child's head.

Having passed the temptations

He pressed forward with his mind

 

In his blood he felt stronger for not giving in

"I am growing

"I am able

"Close my eyes, take it in."

 

Darkness again

 

Darkness again.

 

Silence once more

 

Silence once more.

 

Until the ground rumbled beneath him

 

And a wind picked up like a storm

 

"DEATH COMES TO YOU NOW! DEATH COMES TO YOU NOW!" a voice cried to the child.

 

He heard moans and cries,

 

The wind howled as they rushed

 

Eyes

Teeth

Claws

Fangs

Wings

Angels and Demons

 

All visions of the sane and the mad,

To the youth, did they fly

 

"Close my eyes," said the boy, as he tried to stay calm

"I wish not to see it, I wish not to get frightened."

 

With denial, he shielded himself,

But the ghouls pierced through!

 

The child was sent upwards and thrown to the ground

 

Rising to his feet, 

Eyes still closed,

He began to think

 

"They are false.

"They are false."

 

"If I am connected to all,

“Then they are connected to me."

 

"I am one with the spirits,

“And to them I mean no harm."

 

"You cannot hurt me then,

“So be gone. Be gone!"

 

Calling the cosmos within him,

The unity with all,

A mantra he cried aloud[1],

Thinking, "GO BACK! GO BACK!"

 

For moments like eons

He warred with the spirits

"Illusions cannot harm me,

"Back to your realms!  Go!"

 

"This I have learned.  The river taught me!"

 

With a shriek and a wail the spirits relented

 

"Your will is great child,

“We cannot conquer you.

"Should you need our strength for deceit,

"Call to us and we will arrive."

 

And so the spirits left.

 

The listener was alone once more

 

Illusion under his command?

The boy wondered if it could be true.

 

In his blood he felt stronger for not giving in

"I am growing

"I am able

"Close my eyes, take it in."

 

Darkness again

 

Darkness again.

 

Silence once more

 

Silence once more.

 

"If the wants of the world are no need of mine,

"And death is no worry that will keep me up at night,

"Then what is there left for me to learn?

"Is this knowledge alone the reward I have gained?"

 

Silence in return.

 

Silence in response.

 

Until his god speaks:

"The truth is a lie."

 

“Great Buddha!" he cried,

"What on earth do you mean?

 

The only reply was:

"The truth is a lie."

 

"I do not understand!

“Tell me more! Speak to me!"

 

The only reply was:

"The truth is a lie."

 

Left alone with the riddle, Shaka contemplated

 

"The truth is a lie?

"The truth is a lie?"

 

In the silence he thought

In the darkness he spoke

 

"The truths that I've learned must be illusion then too.”

 

"There is no death.

"There is no life.

"There is no suffering, love or strife."[2]

 

"Then my being is an illusion,

“I am one with all and yet apart.”

So the boy did conclude in his small beating heart

 

"What my body tells me is true must be a lie too!

“To find the truth I must set myself free!”

 

“This I have learned. The river taught me!”

 

"I will hear no sound!"

The world became silent

 

"I will touch or caress no surface!"

So his body went numb

 

"No more scents shall I inhale!"

His nostrils only breathed

 

"I will speak no more!"

His voice went mute

 

“My body is still,” he thought

“Yet my body moves.”

 

“This cosmos within me-

“I must use it to break through!”

 

The boy opened his eyes,

The last sense he clung to

In amazement he saw

 

Darkness no more.

 

Mandalas of Buddha all around[3],

Suspended in blackness

 

So close to his goal, he made his decision

 

"AND AT LAST I'LL SEE NO MORE!"

And his eyes made it so

 

In waking death

What beheld him next

Had the boy holding his breath-

 

For Nirvana[4] he had reached.

 

Thoughts mortals can't know

Flooded his head

 

To final ascension did the boy go.

 

"Now," said the god, "You have one final choice,

"You have ended the journey I gave you at birth.

"To Nirvana you may go or remain in this realm

“Tell me now, Shaka: To Heaven or Earth?”

 

Shaka did think

Long and hard about his path

Then he made the choice

That he couldn't take back.

 

"I wish to stay here.

"With my lessons, what I'll do

"Is use the power I've gained

"To guide others here too.”[5]

 

"Since to you they can't speak,

"This is my request

"I can protect them,

"'Til in Nirvana they rest?"

 

"Shaka, your answer, though different from most,

"Is one I have not heard since ages past

"For you, I will give the Maiden's Cloth

"That has found its new master, at long last."

 

Sound,

Touch,

Smell,

Taste,

And sight

 

In the large and empty room

All of his senses at once returned

The cloth of the Maiden was at once before him

And bright like the sun, the golden box burned

 

The new Shaka of Virgo,

To Greece he was sent

Honored to do so,

His future days spent 

Among saints like himself

Guarding the woman and Pope divine

To the Buddha he still spoke

Like his brethren did his cloth shine

 

So powerful, knowledgeable and wise was he

That by his side many followers remained

When they came to him, with questions burning

He would answer their queries with the insight he'd gained

 

"Close your eyes," says the Saint, "Take it in, take it in.

"If Samsara blinds you, no battle will you win.

"I tell you this soundly, just take it from me.

"You'll learn much if you do.

"Close your eyes,

"You will see."

 

OM

 

 

[1]     Mantras often chanted in hinduism, such as the famous “OM”, which Shaka could be interpreted as saying here during his battle along with any other mantra he is known for saying, namely “Kaan” (Haam) -  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra> , <http://www.twilightvisions.com/KotZ/Virgo.html>

[2]    There is a sutra (rule or aphorism) in Buddhism that things such as happiness, life, death and rebirth do not actually exist. The human body is emptiness, and in enlightenment the five senses are not needed. By releasing yourself from them, you break yourself away from suffering in order to achieve enlightenment and thus reach Nirvana -  <http://www.twilightvisions.com/KotZ/Virgo.html>, <http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/heartsutra.html>

[3]    Mandalas – Symbols in Indian religions meant to represent the universe or establish a sacred place - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala>

[4]    The release from the suffering of life, a goal Buddhists try to attain - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana>

[5]    Though Shaka chooses to be a warrior of sorts with his power, a Bodhisattva is a follower of Buddhism that has attained enlightenment but chooses to remain in this world until all living things reach enlightenment, helping how they can along the way - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva_vow>          


End file.
